Ardina, Pagdanganan, Del Rosario eye strong windup as weather forces extension

MANILA, Philippines — Dottie Ardina carded a composed one-under-par round through 11 holes Sunday (Monday Maila time), but persistent rain and fading light forced a third suspension of play and pushed the final round of the Guardian Championship into Monday (Tuesday) at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill’s Senator Course in Prattville, Alabama.

Severe weather and repeated delays throughout the weekend prevented the field from completing the final round of the $250,000 tournament on schedule.

Spain’s Carla Escuder took advantage of the challenging conditions to fire a brilliant six-under card through 14 holes and seize the lead at 14-under overall.

Kate Stroh and erstwhile leader Kaleiya Romero, a Filipino-American, were tied for second at 13-under, with Stroh shooting seven-under and Romero two-under through nine holes.

Ardina, who rebounded from a rain-delayed 71 in the opening round with a 68, could not sustain her charge in the finale. She made 10 pars and a birdie through 11 holes to stand in a provisional tie for 17th while negotiating softened fairways and greens.

Fellow ICTSI teammates Bianca Pagdanganan and Pauline del Rosario, however, mounted strong comebacks to boost their hopes of posting better finishes before heading to Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, for the Asian Games golf competitions scheduled Sept. 30 to Oct. 3.

The big-hitting Pagdanganan birdied four of her first 11 holes, starting from No. 10, to move into a tie for 27th at four-under overall. She had opened with rounds of 73 and 71.

Del Rosario also stood in a tie for 27th at three-under after nine holes, as both Filipinas appeared to make the most of the difficult conditions compared with Ardina.

A strong finish by Pagdanganan and Del Rosario would provide an added boost to their Asian Games campaign, where they will seek to help the Philippines reclaim the team gold and individual championship the country won at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Yuka Saso, then the spearhead of the Philippine team, captured the individual gold and powered the country to the team championship alongside Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go.

The Philippines struggled to ninth place in the team competition at the most recent Asian Games in China, with Rianne Malixi finishing 11th individually.

Tomi Arejola, meanwhile, was one-under through 11 holes and tied for 49th at one-under overall. Clariss Guce, who survived the cut after opening with a 71 and following it with a 74, was also one-under through nine holes to join Arejola at one-under.

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